Time of Use Editor 

Time of Use (TOU) schedules created with the Time of Use Editor are designed to be used with the Reports application. When you use a TOU schedule in a report, the report data is presented according to the time periods you defined in the schedule. See Report definitions in the online help for Reports in the Web Applications component for information on the Energy Cost Report.

A typical TOU has On Peak, Off Peak and Shoulder periods. Since rate schedules vary not only by day and week, but also by season, the TOU schedules can be set up to match your precise needs.

Opening the Time of Use Editor

To access the Time of Use Editor, open Management Console and select Tools > System > Time of Use Editor.

Use the navigation pane on the left to navigate through the schedules. Right-click a schedule or sub-schedule to access menu items. Select an item to display associated tabs in the tab display pane on the right.

Overview: Creating a TOU schedule

To create a TOU schedule, you need to:

  1. Add a schedule. See Adding or editing a schedule.
  2. Add a sub-schedule, if you need more than one sub-schedule. See Adding or editing a sub-schedule.
  3. Add a season, if you need more than one. See Configuring seasons.
  4. Configure special days (such as holidays) to include in your TOU schedule. See Adding special days.
  5. Add day groups, if you need groups other than the default day groups. See Configuring Day groups.
  6. Add TOU names, if you need names other than the default names. See Defining TOU names.
  7. Assign TOU periods to TOU names. See Defining TOU periods.

To view a sample schedule, right-click the navigation pane and select Import Schedule. Select SampleSchedule.tou from the ...\Power Monitoring Expert\system\etc folder and click Open.

Adding or editing a schedule

This section describes how to add a blank schedule, and import or copy an existing schedule.

Adding a blank schedule

  1. Select File > New Schedule to open the Add a Schedule dialog.
  2. Type a name and description for the schedule. Click the arrow beside the effective date to bring up a calendar where you can select the effective date of the schedule.
  3. Click OK. That schedule name appears in the list in the navigation pane.

Copying an existing schedule

  1. In the navigation pane, right-click the schedule that you want to copy.
  2. Select Save as New Schedule to open the Save as New Schedule dialog.
  3. Enter a name and description for the new schedule.
  4. Click OK. The new schedule appears in the navigation pane with the attributes of the copied schedule.

Importing a schedule

  1. Place the schedule that you want to import into a folder that can be accessed from the computer.
  2. In the navigation pane, right-click an empty area of the navigation pane then select Import Schedule to open the Open dialog.

  3. Navigate to the folder where you placed the schedule. Select the schedule and click Open.

    The schedule is imported with the extension “_imported”. For example, a schedule named “ScheduleA” becomes “ScheduleA_imported”.

Exporting a schedule

To export a schedule to use in another TOU installation:

  1. Right-click the schedule you want to export in the navigation pane. Click Export to open the Save As dialog.
  2. Select the folder where you want to save the schedule.
  3. Enter a schedule name in the File name box.

  4. Click Save.

    The schedule is saved with the extension “.tou”. For example, “ScheduleB” becomes “ScheduleB.tou”.

Editing an existing schedule

To edit a schedule name or description:

  1. From the navigation pane, right-click a schedule name then click Edit Schedule to open the Edit a Schedule dialog.

  2. Change the schedule name or description.

    To change the effective date, you must make the change to the sub-schedule(s). See Editing a sub-schedule effective date.

  3. Click OK.

Deleting a schedule

To delete a schedule, right-click the schedule name in the navigation pane then select Delete Schedule. This deletes the entire schedule, including any sub-schedules.

Adding or editing a sub-schedule

When you add the basic schedule, it contains one sub-schedule, with the effective date (start date) you entered for the schedule. To add additional sub-schedules with alternate effective dates, follow the instructions in the following sections.

Expand a schedule to display its sub-schedule(s). Sub-schedules are listed in order of their effective dates.

TIP: If you want to have more than one sub-schedule with the same seasons, day groups, TOU periods, etc., configure the first sub-schedule then right-click it and select Save as New SubSchedule.

Adding a blank sub-schedule

  1. Right-click the schedule name and select New SubSchedule to open the New SubSchedule dialog.
  2. Click the arrow beside the effective date to open a calendar where you can choose an effective date for the new sub-schedule.

  3. Click OK.

    The sub-schedule displays in the navigation pane. Continue configuring the sub-schedule by adding seasons and day groups.

To add a new sub-schedule that has the same settings as an existing sub-schedule, see Copying an existing sub-schedule, below.

Copying an existing sub-schedule

  1. Right-click the sub-schedule that you want to copy and select Save as New SubSchedule to open the New SubSchedule dialog.
  2. Click the arrow beside the effective date to open a calendar where you can choose an effective date for the new sub-schedule.
  3. Click OK. The new sub-schedule displays in the navigation pane with the same attributes (other than effective date) of the sub-schedule you copied.

Editing a sub-schedule effective date

  1. Right-click the sub-schedule for which you want to change the effective date, then select Edit Effective Date to open the Edit SubSchedule Effective Date dialog.
  2. Click the arrow beside the effective date to open a calendar where you can choose an effective date for the new sub-schedule.
  3. Click OK.

Deleting a sub-schedule

To delete a sub-schedule, right-click the sub-schedule name in the navigation pane and select Delete. This also deletes all seasons in that sub-schedule (and any day groups, special days, etc., that they contain).

Configuring seasons

Use seasons to create timeframes for presenting data in reports. A newly created schedule has a single season, called All Year. Expand a sub-schedule to view its seasons.

If you only need one season (All Year), you can skip the steps below and go to configuring special days.

Configuring seasons

Use the Define a Season tab to set up or edit the time spans for each season.

NOTE: A date can only belong to one season; you cannot overlap dates in one season with dates in another.

  1. From the navigation pane, select the sub-schedule to which the season belongs.

  2. In the tab display pane, select the Define a Season tab.

    After you add a sub-schedule, the tab displays only one season (All Year) that covers the entire year. The season is listed at the top of the tab, and the calendar that shows the days and months that belong to that season is full. To make room to add other seasons, you must edit the All Year season.

  3. Select All Year from the Define a Season tab and click Edit to open the Edit a Season dialog.
  4. In the Season Name field, type the name of one of the seasons you want to define (for example, Summer).

  5. Set the Start Date and End Date for the season. You can specify fixed start and end dates (For example, 12/31) or relative start and end dates (for example, the last Saturday of October).

    Fixed Date: Click on the month or day portion of the date then either type the new date or use the up and down arrows beside the date to edit it.

    Relative Date: Select the day and month from the dropdown lists.

    For the end date, select the Time of Day the season ends (Start of Day or End of Day). If you select Start of Day, the season ends at 12:00:00 AM on the selected day; if you select End of Day, the season ends at 12:00:00 AM on the next day so there are no gaps in the schedule.

    NOTE: If you use relative dates, you can configure a schedule that may become invalid in future years. Be careful when you configure the schedule that there will be no missing or overlapping days in the schedule in future years. For example, rather than scheduling one season to end on the 1st Sunday in June and the next to start on the 1st Monday in June, it is better to schedule the first season to end at Start of Day on the 1st Sunday in June and the next season to start on the 1st Sunday in June.

  6. If this is a split season (where there is a gap between two parts of the season), select the Split Season check box and add a second sets of dates. For example, winter is typically a split season because it occurs in the first and last months of the year.

  7. Click OK.

    The calendar on the Define a Season tab now shows one season with the rest of the year unassigned.

  8. Click Add to create additional seasons. Repeat steps 4 to 6 to name the season and define the start and end dates.

NOTE: Do not leave any dates unassigned: unassigned dates are not calculated in the reports.

Editing a season

  1. On the Define a Season tab, select the season you want to edit then click Edit to open the Edit a Season dialog.
  2. Make the changes you require then click OK.

Deleting a season

To delete a season, select the season in the Define a Season tab then click Delete. This also deletes the day groups and TOU periods configured for that season.

Adding special days

After you define a sub-schedule, you need to set up holidays and other special days. You can define holidays that occur on the same date every year or at some other regular interval (such as the third Thursday in November). You can also define special days, such as inventory days, that might occur regularly and require special treatment in reports.

Use the Define Special Days tab to set up holidays and other special days.

  1. In the navigation pane, select the sub-schedule for which you want to define special days.
  2. In the tab display pane, select the Define Special Days tab.
  3. Click Add to open the Add a Special Day dialog.
  4. Type a name for the special day in the Name field.
  5. Select the frequency of the day:
    • One time only: Enter the date for a single day that does not repeat in future years; for example, a special day for your organization that does not repeat every year.
    • Repeat yearly: Enter the date; for example, a holiday that occurs on the same date every year.
    • Repeat on: Complete the fields in the Repeat On section to define how the day repeats and in which months it occurs. Select whether it occurs on a particular date of the selected month(s) (Day) or a relative day (i.e., Last Saturday) in the selected month(s).
  6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 to add additional special days.
  7. Click OK to save your changes and return to the Define Special Days tab.

See Configuring Day groups for instructions on how to apply special days to a sub-schedule.

Deleting a special day

To delete a special day, select the special day in the Define a Special Day tab then click Delete.

Configuring Day groups

Day groups define how days of the week are divided into groups.

Day groups can include:

  • days of the week
  • special days, such as holidays or other specially designated days (such as inventory days)

Default settings are weekdays (Monday to Friday) and weekends (Saturday and Sunday) but you can add additional groups. There can be a maximum of 47 day groups in any season.

Make sure that all days have been accounted for since unaccounted time is not included in any reports.

Adding a Day group

Before you add a day group, make sure that you have defined seasons and special days for the sub-schedule.

  1. In the navigation pane, select the season for which you want to define day groups. The Define DayGroups tab appears in the tab display pane.

  2. Click Add to open the Add a DayGroup dialog.

    If the Add button is unavailable, there are no free days to add to a day group. A day can only belong to one day group. To add another day group, you must first remove days from an existing day group.

  3. Type a name for the day group.
  4. Select one of the following options:
    • Day of week: Select the check box(es) for the day(s) you want to include. A day can belong to only one day group; if a day is unavailable, it already belongs to an existing group. If all days are unavailable, you can only include special days in this group unless you remove days from another day group.
    • Special Day(s) Only: Select the special day in the Include Special Days list then click to select or clear the day. Days with a check mark beside them are included in the day group. You can only include a special day in one day group.
  5. Click OK. The name is added to the day group list.

Editing a Day group

  1. On the Define DayGroups tab, select the day group you want to change, then click Edit to open the Edit a DayGroup dialog.
  2. Make the changes you require then click OK.

Deleting a Day group

To delete a day group, select the day group in the Define DayGroups tab then click Delete. When you delete a day group, you also delete the TOU periods configured for that day group. If you add a day group again, you will need to reconfigure the TOU periods.

Configuring TOU names and TOU periods

When you run reports, the reports calculate and display data according to the information you enter in the Define TOU Periods and Define TOU Names tabs.

NOTE: You need to define TOU names and periods for each schedule that you create. Be sure to apply a TOU name to every square on the calendar. Unaccounted time causes your reports to display inaccurate information.

Defining TOU names

A TOU name is a designation that is used to differentiate billing rates. Three TOU Names are already defined: On Peak, Off Peak and Partial Peak. You can edit or delete these names, or add new names.

To define TOU names:

  1. In the navigation pane, select the day group for which you want to define TOU names then select the Define TOU Names tab.
  2. Click Add to open the Add a TOU Name dialog.
  3. Type the TOU name you want to add then click OK. The TOU name is added to the list of TOU names.
Editing an existing TOU name
  1. Select the TOU Name in the list on the Define TOU Names tab and click Edit to open the Edit a TOU Name dialog.
  2. Type the new name in the TOU name field.
  3. Click OK.
Deleting a TOU name

Select the TOU name in the list on the Define TOU Names tab and click Delete.

NOTE: If you delete a TOU name, the TOU periods assigned to the name are replaced with “Unaccounted”. Deleting a TOU name in a particular schedule affects all sub-schedules in that schedule.

Defining TOU periods

A TOU period is the time span within the 24-hour period to which you apply a TOU name (such as 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for On Peak). You must have TOU names defined before you can associate TOU periods with those names.

Two TOU names are already defined: On Peak and Off Peak. You can edit or delete these names, or add new names.

Adding TOU periods

Select a day groups to set up the TOU time periods (on-peak, off-peak, etc.) for that group.

  1. In the navigation pane, select the day group for which you want to define a TOU period then select the Define TOU Periods tab.
  2. Click Add to open the Add a Time Period dialog.
  3. In the Start Time field, type the time that the period begins, or select the hours and minutes and use the up and down arrows to set the start time.
  4. In the Stop Time field, type the time that the period begins, or select the hours and minutes and use the up and down arrows to set the stop time.
  5. From the Time of Use Name dropdown list, select the TOU name to associate with the time period.
  6. Click OK.

To add a split time period (i.e., a time period that spans from 19:00 to 6:00), you must add two separate time periods and associate them with the same time of use name.

If you want to expand a time period into time that already belongs to another period, you must first edit the other time period to clear the time.

Continue adding time periods until the 24 hour period is filled. Unaccounted time blocks cause your reports to display inaccurate information.

Editing TOU periods
  1. Highlight the period you want to edit and click Edit to open the Edit a Time Period dialog.
  2. Make the required changes then click OK.
Deleting TOU periods

To delete a period, highlight the period and click Delete.